How to Take Full Advantages of Switches in Data Center

During data center upgrading or migration to higher data rate like 40G/100G, the network designer is always pursuing for flexibility. This is because devices or cabling components with great flexibility can not only decrease the cost for upgrading, but also provide more possibilities for the data center in the future. Switch has always been the most important device data center. Thus, a flexible switch should support a variety of transmission media and data rates, which could have significant positive influence during data center upgrading on cabling and costs. IBM G8264 switch is such a switch that is specially designed for data center, which is suggested to be used at layer 2 or layer 3, providing non-blocking line-rate, high-bandwidth switching, filtering, and traffic queuing without delaying data. However, to make full use of these switches, you should select proper connection components and cabling plans. This post will take IBM G8264 switch as an example to illustrate how to take full advantages of the switches in data center.

Understand Your Switch—IBM G8264 Switch

The first step to make full use of a switch is to have a full understanding of the switch you are using. There are many ways to understand your switch. While the most direct method is to understand the ports on the switches. This method also works for IBM G8264 switches. As shown in the following picture, which is the front panel of IBM G8264 switch, the most outstanding part of the switch is the 48 SFP/SFP+ ports. It occupied most space on IBM G8264 switch front panel. These ports can support data rate of 1G/10G. Four QSFP+ ports for 40G are beside these SFP/SFP+ ports. There are three another ports for other use on the from panel: one 10/100/1000 Ethernet RJ45 port for out of band management, one USB port for mass storage device connection and one mini-USE console port for serial access.

IBM G8264 Connection in Data Center

It is clear that IBM G8264 switch can support data rate of 1G, 10G and 40G. The following parts illustrate how to connect IBM G8264 with the target devices in 1G, 10G, and 40G network separately in details. During the cabling in data center, distance is always a factor that cannot be ignored. The transmission distance required, can largely decide the cabling components selection.

1G Connection of IBM G8264 Switch

To accomplish the 1G connection of IBM G8264 switch and target devices, there are several methods according to transmission distance and transmission media (fiber optic or copper). For distance up to 100 meters, RJ-45 1000BASE-T SFP transceivers with UTP Cat5 cables are suggested, cause they are based on copper and is cheaper than fiber optic components. However, if you want reach a longer distance with good transmission quality, it would be better to use fiber optic cable and optical transceiver. By using 1000BASE-SX SFP optical transceivers with multimode fiber, the transmission distance is up to 220 (62.5 μ multimode fiber) meters and 550 meters (50 μ multimode fiber). For long distance transmission, single-mode fiber optic cables are suggested to be used with 1000BASE-LX SFP optical transceivers, which can connect IBM G8264 switch with the target devices that are 10 kilometers far away. The following chart is the detailed product solutions for IBM G8264 1G connection.

Transmission Media	Module	Cable & Connector	Distance
Copper Cable	BN-CKM-S-T: SFP 1000BASE-T copper transceiver	RJ45, Cat5 cable	100 m
Fiber Optic Cable	BN-CKM-S-SX: SFP 1000BASE-SX optical transceiver	LC duplex, MMF	220 m(50μ multimode fiber)
			550 m(62.5μ multimode fiber)
	BN-CKM-S-LX: SFP 1000BASE-LX optical transceiver	LC duplex, SMF	10 km

10G Connection of IBM G8264 Switch

As mentioned, IBM G8264 switch supports 10G configuration. For 10G, there are mainly two methods: using DACs (direct attach cables) or using transceivers and patch cords. The beauty of using DAC is the eliminating of transceivers and reduction of cost. However, the transmission distance is limited to 7 meters by using DACs. If longer distances are required, 10GBASE-SR transceiver used with OM3 multimode fiber can support transmission distance up to 300 meters. If 10GBASE-SR transceiver is used with OM4 fiber optic cable, distance up to 400 meters could be reached. Using 10GBASE-LR transceiver with single-mode fiber optic cable, IBM G8264 switch can be connected with target devices that are 40 kilometers away.

If the 10G ports number cannot satisfy the requirements, the one QSFP+ port on IBM G8264 can be split into four 10G ports, by using QSFP+ DAC breakout cables for distances up to 5 meters. For distances up to 100 meters, optical MTP-to-LC break-out cables can be used with the 40GBASE-SR4 transceiver. Kindly check the following table for IBM G8264 switch 10G cabling components solutions.

Data Rate	Modules	Cable & Connector	Distance
10G-10G Connection	BN-SP-CBL-1M: SFP+ Copper Direct Attach Cable (1 meter)		0.5-7 m
	BN-SP-CBL-3M: SFP+ Copper Direct Attach Cable (3 meter)
	BN-SP-CBL-5M: SFP+ Copper Direct Attach Cable (5 meter)
	BN-CKM-SP-SR: SFP+ 10GBASE-SR Short Range Transceiver	LC duplex, MMF	300 m(OM3)
			400 m(OM4)
	BN-CKM-SP-LR: SFP+ 10GBASE-LR Long Range Transceiver	LC duplex, SMF	40 km
40G-10G Connection	BN-QS-SP-CBL-1M: QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable (1 meter)		5 m
	BN-QS-SP-CBL-3M: QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable (3 meter)
	BN-QS-SP-CBL-5M: QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable (5 meter)
	BN-CKM-QS-SR: QSFP+ 40GBASE-SR Transceiver	MTP-to-LC break-out cables	100 m

40G Connection of IBM G8264 Switch

For 40G connection, both fiber optic connection and copper connection can be built by using different components. A 40GBASE QSFP+ to QSFP+ DAC can provide connection between IBM G8264 and target devices up to 7 meters. With multimode fiber optic cables, distance up to 100 meters (OM3) and 150 meters (OM4) can be reached, when using with 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceivers. For long distance 40G transmission, 40GBSE-LR QSFP+ transceiver and single-mode fiber optic cable with LC connectors are suggested. Related components for IBM G8264 switch are concluded in the following chart.

Modules	Cable & Connector	Distance
49Y7884: QSFP+ 40GBASE-SR Transceiver	MTP connector, MMF	100 m(OM3)
		100 m(OM4)
00D6222: 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ Transceiver	LC connector, SMF	10 km
BN-QS-QS-CBL-1M: QSFP-to-QSFP cable (1 meter)		1-7 m
BN-QS-QS-CBL-3M: QSFP-to-QSFP cable (3 meter)

Conclusion

To make full used of the switches in data center with great flexibility, both the selection of switch and cabling solutions is very important. IBM G8264 as a switch with great flexibility is an ideal solution for data center upgrading to 40G. The above mentioned modules and cables are all provided by FS.COM, which are IBM G8264 compatible and are fully tested on the IBM G8264 switches. Kindly contact sales@fs.com for more details, if you are interested.

This post is originally published in my blog: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/how-to-take-full-advantages-of-switches-in-data-center.html 

Cisco ME 3400 Series Switches Cabling Solution

Cisco is the leading provider of switches in telecommunication industry. Its switches cover a wide range of applications. One of them is deigned for Metro Ethernet application, which is widely used and known as Cisco ME 3400 series. It is a series of switches which support data rate ranging from 10 M (Mbps) to 1000 M (1 Gbps) with advantages of safety, flexibility, simple deployment and trouble shooting in network. There are several Cisco ME 3400 switch modules with different configurations to satisfy different market needs. The following table is the detailed port information of these switches.

Switch Model	Port Information
Cisco ME 3400-24TS-AC	24 10/100 FastEthernet ports and 2 SFP module ports, AC power
Cisco ME 3400-24TS-DC	24 10/100 FastEthernet ports and 2 SFP module ports, DC power
Cisco ME-3400-24FS-A	24 100BASE-FX SFP module ports and 2 Gigabit Ethernet SFP module ports, AC power
Cisco ME 3400G-12CS-AC	12 dual-purpose ports and 4 SFP module ports, AC power
Cisco ME 3400G-12CS-DC	12 dual-purpose ports and 4 SFP module ports, DC power
Cisco ME 3400G-2CS	2 dual-purpose ports and 2 SFP module ports, AC power

Ports On Cisco ME 3400 Switches

Although Cisco ME 3400 has a variety of port configurations, there are mainly three types of ports on the panel rear of Cisco ME 3400 switches concluded from the above table. They are RJ45 port, SFP port and dual-purpose port. The following part will illustrate how to use these ports to connect Cisco ME 3400 switches in network.

RJ45 Ports on Cisco ME 3400 Switches

It is widely known that RJ45 port are based on copper. The RJ45 Ethernet ports on Cisco 3400 switches can be connected with 10Base-T, 100Base-TX, or 1000Base-T devices via copper cables that are attached with RJ45 connector (shown in the above picture). One of the benefits of using these ports is that they can configure themselves to operate at the speed of attached devices from 10 M, 100 M to 1000 M. If the attached ports do not support auto-negotiation, the specific speed and duplex parameters can be set to the required value.

SFP Ports on Cisco 3400 Switches

The SFP ports on Cisco ME 3400 switches are base on either fiber optic or copper. For a fiber optic connection, a fiber optic SFP module should be plugged in the SFP port firstly, then one end of fiber optic cable with fiber optic connector (usually LC connector) should be inserted into the interface of the SFP module (shown in the above picture). Then insert the other cable end into a fiber optic connector on the target device. When the status LED of the port turns green a fiber optic link is established. If the connection is based copper cable, copper SFP module and copper cable attached with RJ45 connectors should be used to link the switch and target device. Two Cisco ME 3400 switches could be connected with SFP module patch cable (as shown in the following picture).

Dual-Purpose Ports on Cisco ME 3400 Switches

A big highlight of Cisco ME 3400 switches is its dual-purpose port. Please note that only Cisco ME 3400G-12CS-DC/AC and Cisco ME 3400G-2CS have such kind of ports. Literally, dual-purpose can be used in two different ways. One is for fiber optic connection and one is for copper connection. These ports can be can be configured as either 10/100/1000M ports or as SFP module ports according to the needs. The switch dynamically selects the media type for each dual port (10/100/1000BASE-T or SFP). When a link is achieved on one media type, the switch disables the other media type until the active link goes down. If links are active on both media, the SFP module port has priority. The following picture shows part of the Cisco ME 3400G-12CS dual-purpose ports. The Cisco ME3400G-2CS switch dual-purpose ports are similar to those shown in this section.

The following picture shows both fiber optic cable and copper cables connection with Cisco ME 3400G-12CS via dual-purpose ports. For the RJ45 ports, RJ45 connector and copper cable are used. For the SFP ports, both fiber optic connection and copper connection can be achieved by using fiber optic SFP module and copper SFP module separately. Thus, Cisco ME 3400 switches armed with dual-purpose ports can greatly increase it flexibility during cabling and network designing.

Cisco ME 3400 Series Switches Cabling Guide

As Cisco ME 3400 series switches could be connected to a variety types of network and devices, customer might be confused during the selecting of cables, connector and modules. The following table offers the detailed information how to connect Cisco ME 3400 switches to the network.

Port Type	Data Rate	Connectors/Modules & Cables
RJ45 Ports	10BASE-T ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 3, 4, or 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP)
	100BASE-TX ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 5 UTP
SFP Ports	100M	GLC-GE-100FX	LC duplex, MMF
		GLC-FE-100FX
		GLC-FE-100EX	LC duplex, SMF
		GLC-FE-100ZX
		GLC-FE-100LX
		GLC-FE-100BX-D	LC simplex, SMF
		GLC-FE-100BX-U
	1000M (1G)	GLC-SX-MM	LC duplex, MMF
		GLC-SX-MMD
		SFP-GE-S
		GLC-EX-SMD	LC duplex, SMF
		GLC-LH-SM
		GLC-ZX-SM
		GLC-ZX-SMD
		GLC-LH-SMD
		SFP-GE-Z
		SFP-GE-L
		CWDM SFP
		DWDM SFP
		GLC-BX-U	LC simplex, SMF
		GLC-BX-D
			RJ-45, Cat 5
		GLC-T
		SFP-GE-T

All the above mentioned products can be provided in Fiberstore (FS.COM). If you are interested please contact sales@fs.com or visit FS.COM for more details.

Source: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/cisco-me-3400-series-switches-cabling-solution.html

Connect Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches to Network

Cisco Catalyst 3750 series switches are widely used in today’s access layer of the network, which can provide Ethernet speed of Gigabit. There are a variety of configurations in this series of Cisco switches. They can fit different applications and offering forward data rates from 32G to 128G by using Cisco StackWise technology. It is an economical solution to many midsize enterprises and office. However, to make full use of these switches, how to connect them to network becomes very important. This post will illustrate Cisco Catalyst 3750 series switches connection in details.

Do You Know Cisco Catalyst Series Switches?

The ports on switches decide what types of connectors and cables can be connected with the switches. Thus, let’s get a close look at Cisco Catalyst 3750 switches ports details first. As mentioned, one of the biggest advantages is that Cisco Catalyst 3750 can support Cisco StackWise technology. Up to nice physical Catalyst 3750 switches can be interconnected into one logical switch with a high performance of 32G or 128G. This is largely depending on the StackWise ports on the rear panel of the switch as shown in the following picture.

Another great advantage of Cisco Catalyst 3750 switch is its great flexibility and adaptability owning to its various configurations. The Ethernet ports of Cisco Catalyst 3750 can support data rage from 10M to 1G. For instance, or example, Cisco Catalyst 3750G-12S contains 12 SFP ports, Cisco Catalyst 3750G-24TS-1U has 24 Ethernet 10/100/1000 ports plus 4 SFP uplinks in 1 rack unit (RU) height, Cisco Catalyst 3750G-48PS is armed with 48 Ethernet 10/100/1000 ports with IEEE 802.3af PoE and 4 SFP uplinks. The following picture shows the detailed ports information of Cisco Catalyst 3750G-48TS, which has 48 Ethernet 10/100/1000 ports and 4 SFP uplinks.

Connecting Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switch to Network

There are mainly two types of ports on Cisco Catalyst 3750 switches: RJ45 and SFP. Different cables and connectors are used to connect the switches to network. The following will offer detailed information about how to connect these ports.

Cisco Catalyst 3750 Switch 10/100/1000 Ports Connection

10/100/1000 Ports on Cisco Catalyst 3750 are RJ45 ports, which should be connected with copper cables (as shown in the following picture). For different applications, the cable types are also different. For example, when connecting Cisco Catalyst 3750 to workstation, servers, router, the straight-through cables are suggested to use with RJ45 connector. When it the switch is connected to repeaters, crossover cable is recommended. When connecting to 1000Base-T-compatible devices, be sure to use a twisted four-pair, Cat5 cable.

Cisco Catalyst 3750 Switch SFP Module Ports Connection

Most Cisco Catalyst 3750 switches have several SFP ports on their front panel. They can support Gigabit Ethernet, by using SFP modules related. Both copper and fiber optic links can be built with these ports and SFP modules. If connected with fiber optic 1000Base-LX or 1000Base-SX SFP modules a link supporting Gigabit Ethernet based on fiber optic can be built. If connected with copper SFP module like 1000Base-T, a copper link will be built. The following picture illustrates the connections with fiber optic SFP module port and Copper SFP module port from left to right separately.

Cabling Solution for Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches

More related cables and modules that Cisco Catalyst 3750 switches supporting are listed in the following chart for your reference.

Port Type	Data Rate	Connectors/Modules & Cables
RJ45 Ports	10BASE-T ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 3, 4, or 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP)
	10BASE-T PoE ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 3, 4, or 5 UTP cabling power pins 1, 2 (negative) and 3, 6 (positive)
	100BASE-TX ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 5 UTP
	100BASE-TX PoE ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 5 UTP, power on pins 1, 2 (negative) and 3, 6 (positive)
SFP Ports	100M	GLC-GE-100FX	LC duplex, MMF
		GLC-FE-100FX
		GLC-FE-100LX	LC duplex, SMF
		GLC-FE-100BX-D	LC simplex, SMF
		GLC-FE-100BX-U
	1G	GLC-SX-MM	LC duplex, MMF
		GLC-SX-MMD
		SFP-GE-S
		GLC-EX-SMD	LC duplex, SMF
		GLC-LH-SM
		GLC-ZX-SM
		GLC-BX-D
		SFP-GE-Z
		SFP-GE-L
		CWDM SFP
		DWDM SFP
		GLC-BX-U	LC simplex, SMF
		GLC-T	RJ-45, Cat 5

All the above mentioned products are fully tested in FS.COM Test Center. Please contact sales@fs.com for more details.

Source: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/connect-cisco-catalyst-3750-series-switches-to-network.html

How to Connect Cisco Nexus 9396PX to 40G Network

Both devices and network architecture should be consider during data center upgrade. With the driven of applications like Cloud, Internet of Things, and virtual data center, it is clear that 10G can no longer satisfy the application needs. Migrating to 40/100G is an urgent problem. Cisco Nexus 9396PX switch, as one of the first member of Cisco Nexus 9000 series platform, can support 40G transmission with flexibility and high density. However, the problem is that many customers do not know how to get there to make full use of these devices. This post will give a detailed description about how to connecting Cisco Nexus 9396PX switch to optimized network architecture.

Optimized Network Architecture—Spine-Leaf Architecture

The traditional network usually used a three tier network architecture. However, with the migration of 40/100G, a new architecture is taking place of the traditional one with great advantages. This is known as spine-leaf architecture. Compare with the traditional three tier network architecture, spine-leaf uses a two-tier mode as shown in the above picture. Several most obvious advantages of spine-leaf architecture are list as following:

• spine-leaf network is more adaptable to the continuous change of data center. This is because an additional Spine switch may be added and uplinks may be extended to every Leaf switch, resulting in the addition of interlayer bandwidth and reduction of the oversubscription.
• Spine-leaf network can create high density cabling environments depending on the scale of the network.
• Using a two-tier mode, spine-leaf network can reduce the overall signal latency through the elimination of a switching layer.

Connecting Cisco Nexus 9396PX to 40G Spine-Leaf Network

To make full use of the given source, spine-leaf architecture is suggested. As shown in the above picture, the Cisco Nexus 9396PX is a 2RU non-blocking Layer 2 and 3 fixed switch offering 48 ports of 1G SFP/10G SFP+ and 12 ports of 40G QSFP+. Cisco Nexus 9396PX switch is suggested to be used as the leaf switch in 40G spine-leaf network. Cisco Nexus 9396PX is suggested to be used as leaf switch in 40G spine-leaf network. In spine-leaf network architecture for 40G application, the connections between the spine switches and leaf switches are 40G, while connections between the leaf switches and servers are usually 1/10G. Thus these 40G QSFP+ ports can be used to connect the spine switch and the 1G SFP/10G SFP+ are suggested to connect servers and routers. To accomplish the whole spine-leaf connection, optics and cables or DAC (direct attach cable) should be used. The following picture shows a 40G spine-leaf architecture with Cisco Nexus 9396PX being used in the leaf layer and the fiber cabling choice for Cisco Nexus 9396PX switch in this architecture.

Cisco Nexus 9396PX Cabling Solution

Using the fixed switch Cisco Nexus 9396PX with spine-leaf architecture can greatly increase the network scaling capability and adaptability. Detailed information about modules and cables that can be used with Cisco Nexus 9396PX are listed in the following chart.

Connection	Option 1: Optics & Cable		Option 2: DAC
Spine to leaf (40G connection)	QSFP-40G-SR4	MMF, OM3/OM4, MPO patch cable	QSFP-H40G-AOC (1m to 10m are available) QSFP-H40G-CU (1m to 5m are available) QSFP-H40G-ACU (7m to 10m are available)
	QSFP-40G-SR4-S
	QSFP-40G-CSR4
	QSFP-40GE-LR4	SMF, LC duplex patch cable
	QSFP-40G-LR4
	WSP-Q40GLR4L
	QSFP-40G-LR4-S
	QSFP-40G-ER4
Leaf to server (1/10G connection)	SFP+ Optics		SFP-10G-AOC (1m to 10m are available) SFP-H10GB-CU (1m to 5m are available)
	SFP-10G-SR	MMF, LC duplex patch cable
	SFP-10G-SR-S
	SFP-10G-LR	SMF, LC duplex patch cable
	SFP-10G-LR-S
	SFP-10G-ER
	SFP-10G-ER-S
	SFP-10G-ZR
	DWDM SFP+
	SFP Optics
	GLC-T (1000BASE-T)	RJ-45, Cat 5
	SFP-GE-T
	GLC-SX-MMD	MMF, LC duplex patch cable
	GLC-SX-MM
	GLC-LH-SMD	SMF, LC duplex patch cable
	GLC-EX-SMD
	GLC-LH-SM

All the products mention in this chart can be customized according to your applications in Fiberstore (FS.COM). They will be fully tested in Fiberstore Test Center before they go to the market. Kindly contact sales@fs.com for more details.

Source: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/how-to-connect-cisco-cisco-nexus-9396px-to-40g-network.html